Mortality
by RecursiveAcronym
Summary: Mortality was fine for 99% of the world. So why didn't it work for her? Then again, she knew the answer. It was all because she was Percy Jackson's little sister, and that fact ruled her life.


**Hey guys! I'm back with a new story, and this time it's new and improved! Why? 'Cause this time I have a beta-reader! Thank you so much for beta-reading this, Tokoleshe Monster, as if I haven't said that seventeen times before. I'm just really grateful. But whatever, let's get on with the story! Oh yeah, disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan. That'd be pretty freaky if I was. Oh, and please review and tell me what you thought of the story when you are done reading! Okay, _now_ let's get on with the story.**

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><p>Some people would say I was spoiled, having a handsome and powerful brother (well, half-brother to be technical). Some people would say I had a sad life, always living in said half-brother's shadow.<p>

Me? I'd say I was mortal.

I was born three years after my parents were married. Percy, that half-brother I mentioned, was a boy with green eyes and black hair; something that I don't have. I was told he got his looks from his dad, who got lost at sea long before I was born.

Instead, I have our mom's looks; straight brown hair and blue eyes. This is completely fine with me. Being related to Percy was a blessing and a curse, but mostly a curse. Not being recognized as his sister was wonderful.

I always knew my family was a tad abnormal. After all, not many kids I knew at my school had half-brothers or sisters. I didn't know just how strange my family was until I was eight.

I was walking home from school with Percy on a rather normal day. It was springtime, but you couldn't tell without a calendar due to the stunning lack of greenery in New York City.

To make up for this, I imagined the trees and flowers scattered through the city, with bright green leaves and pearl white petals. It seemed so real that I informed Percy he had superpowers when he had walked through one of my trees. He just laughed, ruffling my hair and telling me I was pretty darn close to the truth.

We were walking through a dark, dank alley shortcut Percy had found. Everything, human or animal, ran when Percy glanced at them, so it was perfectly safe.

A woman with blonde hair and blue eyes headed in our direction. I gasped at her prettiness, even though Annabeth had told me most people who looked like that were shallow. I had to look up that word, before asking her if only those shallow people had bodies made of water.

Percy on the other had, didn't gasp at the lady. His eyes narrowed, and his shoulders tensed. He told me to stay there and don't move, before approaching the her. I thought he recognized her as someone he didn't like and was going to talk to her in a fake-nice way. I didn't expect him whip a pen out of his pocket and stab her.

The woman screamed, but in the alley no one heard her. No one came. No sirens sounded. Nothing responded to her anguished cry of help. I wanted to scream too, but I couldn't find my voice to do it.

A strange reddish powder gushed from out of the wound instead of blood, something I didn't realize until later. It oozed from the injury in just the same way. After a moment, she vanished into thin air. This did nothing but add to my heightening terror. Percy breathed a sigh of relief and tucked the pen in his pocket before turning to me, grabbing my hand, and we ran home.

As soon as we got back, Percy went to go talk to Mom. They told me to go do my homework, before telling me to go watch TV after I said I had none to do. They then proceeded to lock themselves in the kitchen. My complaint that the TV was broken fell on deaf ears.

I sat on the couch, my arms crossed and and a "hmmph" expression on my face. I was angry and irritated I had been left out of what was obviously a very important conversation. I sat like that until Dad came home thirty minutes later and distracted me with Monopoly. Even as we played, I could hear bits and pieces of the conversation; "_It was after her, Mom," _and _"empousai". _That last word was foreign to me.

Soon after, Annabeth, Percy's wife, came over and joined the fray. The three of them argued and discussed and talked for hours, all the while Dad and I played Monopoly and other assorted board games. Finally there was a silence, and Mom, Percy, and Annabeth joined me and Dad in the living room.

Mom put her hands on my shoulders and knelt to look me straight in the eye, before saying in a serious tone; "How would you like to go to this camp?"

**oOo**

I, like most kids my age, agreed readily. Skipping school for some camp? Sure, sounds great!

So at dawn the next morning, Percy and Annabeth drove me out to a hill that took several hours to reach and was near the ocean, which was nice and calm. The hill was tall and grassy, but didn't appear very steep. I couldn't see the top of it, as it seemed to be misty.

Annabeth went up the hill to go talk to someone, while Percy stayed down and distracted me with fun games about grass and rocks. I was excited but a little jittery. I wanted to make a good impression in the camp.

It was a while before Annabeth returned, but soon she nodded towards Percy and we all went up the hill. I was skipping, dancing and laughing because I wasn't in school while all of my friends were. Percy and Annabeth didn't share in my giddiness and just continued to decisively walk ahead, their jaws set and their eyes staring forward grimly. I didn't get what their problem was.

Beneath my happiness, however, I was scared. After Percy had stabbed that girl, everything was serious and there were hushed conversations all the time. In the pit of my gut, I thought maybe I was dangerous and they had to send me away to this "camp" to protect themselves from me. I tried my hardest to push away that feeling.

Soon we reached the top of the hill and Annabeth made me wait, before striding through and saying, "I, Annabeth Chase, give you permission to enter camp." She then allowed me to walk through. It all seemed pretty stupid to me.

When I entered the camp, I gasped.

There was a blue lake as smooth as glass with a bunch of wooden canoes like in all of those camp stories I read, and a rock-climbing wall almost ten times taller than me. A lush and ominous green forest had a hint of mystery to it like all good forests should, and strawberry fields with plump red strawberries that I had no doubt would be sugary sweet, and a bunch of other cool-looking incredible stuff.

However, all of that went ignored as Percy and Annabeth purposefully strode towards this modest little two-story house in the middle of camp, which seemed strange to me. Why would they need this little house here?

It was there I learned how Percy was one of the most famous demigods because he had saved the world twice (_twice!_). I also learned how because of that monsters were targeting me even though I was just a mortal. In their minds, I was _Percy Jackson's little sister._ I was vulnerable and weak, and could be an easy target for kidnapping so Percy would have to come and rescue me.

It was there I learned about the Mist and how easily mortals like me were blinded. I would have to be trained in defending myself among demigods, a mortal exception among leagues of godly children. Once I was old enough and could hold my own – about thirteen – I could go back to living in the mortal world like nothing had happened. As if I hadn't had five years of my life stolen away from me.

**oOo**

My first two years at camp passed without much incident. It was only when I was ten years old that things really started to happen.

"Hey, mortal," an Ares kid, Johnathan, hissed disparagingly at me. I was used to this, turning away and walking in the other direction. He knew I could tell Percy and Annabeth about him and they would kick his butt to Tartarus and back. But he also knew I wouldn't, because that would mean showing him he's right. I'm pathetic for being _Percy Jackson's little sister _and that I need Percy to always come rescue me.

I was two years into my life at Camp Half-Blood, and still a scrawny ten-year-old with only a steel knife as a weapon. Celestial bronze hadn't worked out too well. As soon as I grasped any weapon with it, a shiver whipped through my body, telling me; "_No, this is wrong." _I was also very clumsy with it, it felt so unnatural.

I was lucky I was immune to the stuff, or else I would have been sliced and stabbed and most definitely dead ten times over. They finally gave me a steel knife because I had almost killed myself so many times.

Of course, I could kill myself with steel, but it felt more natural in my hands and I could actually swing it decently. Chiron decided it was worth the trade-off, as monsters could still be killed by steel, though not as quickly as with celestial bronze.

Really, this isn't the only time I have disappointed others by being mortal. Or more likely for not being as great and mighty as Percy because I'm his _little sister, _and therefore I should be just as good, even though I'm a mortal.

They assured me this wasn't the case, but I see it in their faces. It's written on the expression of my Greek tutor, because I don't pick up Ancient Greek in a flash like everyone else. I saw it on my monster teacher's face, because I can't recognize any of the monsters because I can't see any because of the Mist. My training instructor knew, because I'm so bad at fighting and combat and am obviously not the next great sword fighter like Percy was. The healers worry, because when I do get injured they have to remember they can't stuff me full of nectar and ambrosia like the others or else I would burn to death.

Everyone's disappointed in me, and I don't know why. Even if I'm _Percy Jackson's little sister_, I'm still mortal. They should know I can never be as good as Percy, a demigod. So why does everyone treat me like I'm not, like I should be as good as him anyways?

I probably fit in the best with the Athena kids. Everyone else's flashy powers scare me to death, especially the Hecate cabin. The only ones who don't rely on those flashy powers are the Athena cabin, the Hermes cabin, and the Ares cabin.

They rely on their wit, craftiness, and brute strength respectively. I don't get along with Ares cabin very well, probably because they tortured me endlessly. The Hermes cabin is okay, but I've gotten so many things stolen from them I tend to avoid the bunch.

The Athena cabin, on the other hand, at least tolerate me, possibly because Annabeth told them to. They're more than willing to help me figure out what something means in Ancient Greek between building a rocket ship that can go to Jupiter and curing cancer. They assured me those flashy powers aren't as good as they seem, which I would probably believe more if they had them as well.

I helped them too, deciphering words in beyond college-level books that they can't find an Ancient Greek translation for, as I don't have dyslexia like them. More often than not, I would have to look up the words in a dictionary, and those words got implanted in my head.

The only one who somewhat understands me is Rachel. Rachel is the Oracle, but more importantly for me, she is the only other mortal in Camp Half-Blood. Sure, she can see through the Mist, but I still feel close to her. She lives in the Big House like me, and paints and paints and paints like there's no tomorrow. But she understands what its like being a mortal, surrounded by all of these powerful people and feeling like you're nothing compared to them.

This feeling is fleeting to her, though, but it is constant without a sign of leaving within me. But she is strong, powerful. She doesn't let these things get to her. I yearn for her confidence.

**oOo**

It was at the campfire, when Johnathan got assigned a small quest – I can't remember what the point of it was. It was so unimportant, it didn't warrant a prophecy from the Oracle. It was barely a quest, more of a scouting mission. But I can remember something. First, he picked one of his Ares cronies, no surprise there. I sighed, waiting for this to pass so I could get some sleep. But then Johnathan turned and met my gaze. With a wolfish, devious smile, he announced me as his other partner.

I know why he picked me. To screw me up, trip me and make me fall flat on my face so they could all laugh at how pathetic _Percy Jackson's little sister _was compared to him, and how I couldn't tell a hellhound from a bus.

To make Percy and Annabeth and Chiron disappointed in me, like they always have been. It wasn't a big deal for him, anyways. It was a small, pathetic quest that didn't have the stake of the world at risk, didn't even have a prophecy issued by Rachel.

Percy and Annabeth, for their part, were thrilled. They were excited I finally got my first chance to prove myself. They didn't know how bad I was doing, how all the Ares kids tormented me. And I wouldn't tell them, because they would get too involved and prove all the Ares kids right; that I can't handle things by myself.

But I couldn't take this quest. I wasn't ready, and everyone knew it. So rather then trip and fall, I walked proudly up to Johnathan and told him I refuse his offer, I'm not going on the quest. He smirked like he knew I couldn't do it, but I could see in his eyes that he was disappointed. However, he quickly recovered and easily asked another Ares kid, before they all went out on the quest.

I didn't prove myself an idiot, but I didn't prove myself at all.

And that stings a little.

**oOo**

But that was all in the past, almost ten years ago now. I'm a grown woman now, fresh out of college and seeking a job. Percy and Annabeth are looking forward to their first grandchild, even though their oldest child is about my age. I have seen no monsters since I left camp, leaving my steel knife to other noble duties like opening letters and cleaning dirt out from under my nails.

That all makes the whole camp experience seem pointless, but I'm not so sure. I'm staying with Percy and Annabeth for now, at least until I find a job and an apartment room I can rent. They leave me alone for the most part, knowing I love independence, but we do have occasional conversations. Most recently, I had one with Percy.

"Hey," he remarked casually, two plastic cups in his hand. I was positioned in the living room with my laptop on my thighs, scanning the internet for potential jobs. He gestured for me to take one.

"Thanks," I replied, moving my laptop off to the side, and clutching the cup in my hands. A quick glance told me it was Sprite, something a sip of the clear, fizzy liquid confirmed.

Percy nodded, acknowledging my thanks, before taking a quick drink out of his cup. I had no doubt it was saltwater. Percy had been staying up a lot recently, which was shown by the bags under his eyes. What coffee was to mortals, seawater was to Percy. He discovered this when he and Annabeth had their first child and there were many sleepless nights.

We both sat there in silence for a little bit, just sipping our drinks, before Percy spoke up. "So," Percy commented, "Do you ever wish you didn't have to go to Camp? Like, do you ever regret it?"

I blinked in astonishment. I normally have these kind of deep, introspective conversations with Annabeth. Normally the deepest Percy and I talk about is how we're feeling. I sit there for a little bit, pondering his question.

Without camp, I would have never experienced many of the things I have now: rock-climbing with lava, learning Ancient Greek, fighting with swords and knives. I have no doubt the reason I got a perfect SAT Critical Reading score was because of the time I spent in the Athena cabin. I learned proving yourself isn't worth it when you can prove yourself a miserable failure. I learned that names will fade, and insults can become empowerment.

Sure, I'm Percy Jackson's little sister. But I'm more than that as well. I learned there is something else out there, something godly and powerful. I don't know quite what it is, but I'm sure it exists. Most do not get even that.

"I don't regret it," I said finally with a calm smile on my face, and left it at that.


End file.
